Attacks on Independent Media in Unprecedented Wave of Censorship

(Waking Times | Philip Schneider) In an unprecedented wave of censorship, multiple leading independent media outlets have been hit with modern-day guerrilla tactics by globalist corporations in collusion with the deep state. Both Natural News and InfoWars, and even Breitbart Editor Milo Yiannopoulos, have faced intimidation, harassment, and economic sabotage solely because they publish content which discredits the mainstream media and the political establishment.

The debate over the right to a free and open internet has been in the works for a long time. From CISPA to the ever-looming internet ID, our fight for the right to remain free and anonymous online has been a tough one. However, the recent plethora of very targeted and deliberate attacks against prominent figures in the independent press are setting the stage for another big wave of censorship unless we halt it now.

Mike Adams Threatened To “Destroy Alex Jones”

On Feb 16th 2017, Mike Adams went public with the information that he had been offered $50 thousand dollars to release “files” he was given on a thumb drive which would “destroy Alex Jones”, or Adams’ work and character would be maliciously attacked. He immediately went public, stating that he would not “stab anyone in the back” to be in the good graces of this clearly malevolent group. He also noted that this was not the first time he had been threatened in this way. Back in 2013 he was confronted with a similar attack behind the scenes.

“I was told that if I did not take out Alex Jones that they were going to destroy me.” – Mike Adams

InfoWars Discontinued from Adroll

On February 21st, just five days after Adams went public with his threat to discredit Alex Jones, InfoWars was hit with a discontinuation notice from the Google controlled ad network Adroll, resulting in a 3.3 million dollar yearly loss of revenue. That money would have gone toward paying for a White House correspondent to cover Donald Trump which they were discussing in the days leading up to the attack.

The official reason was because of the “political content” of the website – not because the ads themselves were sensitive or inappropriate in any way. They vaguely claim that “all political content should focus on the merits of the candidate, and political messaging should not target special interests or groups, or imply affiliations” without citing a specific violation to justify blacklisting InfoWars from the program.

“When all these big corporations get together and create blacklists of who they want to ban, it’s clearly racketeering.” -Alex Jones

Entire Natural News Site Delisted From Google

Two days later on February 23rd, The entire Natural News domain was delisted from the Google Search Index over a “sneaky mobile redirect” on one page of the blogs sub domain of the site. No far left-leaning or establishment news outlets suffered the same abuse even though they often have bloggers as well who violate the rules in similar ways.

Additionally, the decision to delist Natural News was human, meaning it was not accidentally made by one of Google’s algorithms. Although they have since reinstated its place in the index, the timing of these events seems to suggest that someone or some group within Google has been working in conjunction with whoever carried out the threat against Mike to punish the entire Natural News operation for not turning against Alex Jones.

Fake News Sets the Stage for Mass Censorship and Online Book Burning

About a month ago, not just one or two outlets, but virtually every prominent mainstream media outlet began putting a new buzzword into the public sphere – “fake news.” Listening to mainstream media broadcasts around this time consisted of hearing the terms “fake news” and “conspiracy theories” over and over again in relation to Donald Trump and the independent media, which played a big role in the election.

This fake news narrative was created to hoodwink the public into accepting increasing censorship of online news outlets which publish stories and air broadcasts which go against the status quo. Shortly after “fake news” became a prominent issue in the media, major technology companies have begun censorship of online news stories they deem “fake.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has openly talked about censoring “fake news” stories and Google has started discontinuing websites which it feels contain “fake news”. They also added a “truthiness” factor into their search index algorithms which ranks websites lower which provide facts contrary to the corporate-government consensus created by Google.

The true arbitrator of what is “real” and “fake” is not Facebook, Google, or even the government, but the public. Deciding to share or like a news story is free speech, and in the larger social debate, this type of free speech can help a larger audience determine what is eventually accepted as truth. This is the only way to guard against a totalitarian and dystopic society similar to Orwell’s 1984 where the “Ministry of Truth” decides which news stories and facts the public are allowed to see.

Google and Facebook Have Virtually Monopolized Communication on the Internet

Google and Facebook have become de facto monopolies on the ability to communicate online. According to Search Engine Land, 65 percent of searches run through Google whereas similar Yahoo and Microsoft affiliated search engines collectively follow at about 33 percent leaving only about 2 percent left. Pew Research has found that 79% of online adults use Facebook compared to the next biggest being Instagram at 32 percent.

Seeing how these companies have virtually cornered the market in online communication and advertising, these numbers represent a much larger trend than simply providing services to customers. News outlets and outspoken citizens now have to think about how compromising they are with establishment narratives in order for their voice to be heard amidst wrongful allegations of “fake news”. This situation, historically and without fail, has always ended in less freedom and more human suffering.

Free and Independent Media is Essential to Democracy

Any true democracy, even a republican form, requires a debate to be won before policies can advance. This is the core ideal that keeps societies from tumbling down the path to totalitarianism. However, certain roadblocks can get in the way, such as mass immigration inevitably changing the demographics of a country or censorship of views that don’t correlate with one particular side of the argument.

A free and independent media is one of the most essential aspects of maintaining democracy. Without it, the nation would be subject to virtually any totalitarian policies that the government decides to initiate because the media will always promote them. To be controlled by the very forces that seek to dominate and subjugate the population means that you are no longer acting in the interests of the people, but rather the elite.

One example would be in Hitler’s Germany, journalists who rightfully reported that the Jews were being rounded up and exterminated were arrested and executed as “fake news”. Edgar Mowrer, an American journalist during the Nazi reign, was eventually run out of Germany for attempting to warn the Jews to escape before it was too late. The mainstream media, in a frenzy of denial, fear, and loyalty to their party, was used as a weapon to hide the truth that people like Edgar were trying to circulate.

Our current situation is edging closer to a similar reality as the mainstream media talking heads become more arrogant about their role as truth arbitrators allied with the upper and lower echelons of the deep state.

Although we might be in slight disagreement on certain issues, it’s more important than ever that the people’s media stand together against censorship and intimidation. United we stand, divided we fall.